


In The Belly of The Beast

by Princessunicornblue



Series: Let The Beast Out [1]
Category: Lost Boys (Movies)
Genre: Blood Drinking, Drugs, Explicit Language, M/M, Murder, Possessive Behavior, Vague Mentions of Abuse, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-01
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-12-22 15:40:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11970438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princessunicornblue/pseuds/Princessunicornblue
Summary: Michael Emerson is going through some changes in his life. A new home, a new wardrobe, and a new set of friends. But along with those new friends comes a different attitude and diet. Gone are the cravings for sweets and his mom's famous spaghetti, now he's craving something else. He's hungry for blood.





	In The Belly of The Beast

**Author's Note:**

> -Title from The Lion, The Beast, and The Beat by Grace Potter and The Nocturnals-
> 
> Laddie isn't missing, Star is human, and the frog brothers are hardly involved.

Santa Carla was hot, but not as hot as Phoenix. Micheal knew heat, and Santa Carla just didn't kick it like Phoenix did. While Sam played with the radio in the passenger seat, Michael watched the different people pass by as they completely entered the city borders of their new home. None of the people were the usuals from Phoenix. They didn't look like Old Man Carson that lived two blocks down from their old house or Allison that sat next to him in English. It wasn't like Michael hoped that a familiar face would show up, it's just that it was all so different from where it was all so remembered.

The songs on the radio were all oldies that Michael and Sam mutually agreed to skip, much to the amused dismay of their mother. Lucy managed to sing along to the first few lines of an old favorite of hers before the boys cut the short the trip down memory lane. The billboard welcoming them to Santa Carla was entirely too cheery for Michael's mood, but the message on the back baffled him. _'Murder Capital of the World' _. Michael felt a chill run down his spine from reading that disturbing factoid.__

____

____

Eventually, after taking a short stop to stretch their legs, get gas, and allow Nanook to run around near the boardwalk, they arrived at Grandpa Emerson's house. The array of wood-crafted totem poles, animal skulls and horns, and strange knick-knacks gave Michael the belief that their Grandpa wasn't completely right in the head. The old man playing dead and his red room full of stuffed animals definitely didn't help either. The old geezer was crazy and had weird habits, but an awesome amount of marijuana out back. Michael hoped that Grandpa would be willing to share in the name of family.

\-----

"I was thinkin' about getting a job," Michael said casually to his mother. He knew that she would agree to him being employed if it weren't so close to the end of summer. He took the wet plate Lucy handed him and dried it carefully, he wouldn't want to drop another plate after the last time he did. Michael still could see the cautious glint in his mother's eyes from all those years back.

"School's gonna start in a couple of weeks."

And this was the part of the conversation where he didn't really want to touch with a ten-foot pole. He didn't want to disappoint his mother, and he definitely didn't want her to think that it was her fault. Since the divorce and the move, nothing was all too great for Lucy and having two teen sons didn't help matters. Michael wanted to help her as much as he could, and he couldn't do so if he was stuck in school half the day.

"I don't know if I'm going back to school."

The look on Lucy's face was exactly what Michael didn't want to see in that moment as he turned away to put the dishes in the cabinets. Thankfully Sam came into the kitchen dancing to his music and pulling Lucy along with him. Unfortunately, that meant that Sam would drag him along to jump around to the beat of the song, which was something he didn't want right now. Michael was trying to be a responsible adult, he didn't really have time to play around like Sam did. Sam was so lucky to be young and free.

\-----

The most beautiful girl Michael had ever seen had just passed him by. Amid the concert goers, teens, adults, and some stray children, she caught his eye. Her long brown curls were draped around her creamy shoulders. Michael's eyes were glued to her skin, her eyes, and the teasing lips pulled into a smirk. His heart pounded fiercely in his chest as his gaze held onto her dancing form. Michael could feel his brother pulling his face back to the show going on, but he couldn't look away from the girl. Her beauty was so compelling that he had to look as long as possible or else she would have disappeared.

The Girl glanced over at Michael, smirked, then twirled away in a swirl of her long and glittering brown skirt. Michael immediately followed, Sam trailed behind him asking the reason why they were leaving such a good show.

_'But the best show is yet to be seen.' _Michael thought to himself as he kept spotting and losing the Girl in the crowd of tourists and Santa Carla residents. Michael was starting to curse the summer season for bringing all these people out onto the boardwalk tonight. If only there was fewer people in the world, a colder and less popular season, or anything fate could give him that would bring him closer to the Girl.__

____

____

"I'm at the mercy of your sex glands, bud." Sam teased as he stuck closely to his older brother. Michael stopped and looked around for the beautiful girl he was so arrested with. He couldn't search for her successfully with his younger brother around to drag him down. He definitely couldn't put the moves on her with Sam behind him making lewd comments and embarrassing lies about Michael, he couldn't deal with that.

"Sam, don't you have something better to do than to follow me around all night?" Michael urged his brother to find something to do while he risked his life for the night. It was do or die and he had one chance to find her or give up in case she was a tourist. But if she was a local . . .

"Yeah," Sam said distractedly. "Actually, I do."

Michael was thankful to God and any other deities out there that his brother had caught sight of a comic book store not too far from where they stood. Michael had his chance, now all he had to do was find his mark. Searching almost all over the boardwalk, Michael eventually found the Girl. She turned around and was clutching a prize bear to herself.

"Are you following me?"

_'Be cool. Be cool. BE COOL!' ___

____

____

"Yeah, I am."

_'She's smiling, that's good. One mistake does not a man make.' ___

____

____

"Did you want to talk to me?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, talk."

"How are ya?"

It wasn't exactly the smoothest Michael could be, but it was working anyway. Girls liked funny guys and it seemed like the Girl thought he was funny. And right before he could say anything else, Sam showed up.

"Mom's waiting."

"Nice talking to you." And then she was walking away.

"She wants me," Sam said, watching the Girl go. "All of me."

Michael rolled his eyes then went off after her, he couldn't do a parting remark left undone. He had to repair his image after Sam so obviously killed the mood. The Girl had to know that he was cool, handsome, and wanted her attentions.

Except someone already had her attentions. A boy that looked to be no older than Michael by two or three years was engaging the Girl with what seemed to be sweet words with the way she blushed prettily for him. The boy's hair was in a spiky bleach blonde mullet that made him look unfairly attractive. His dark clothes and old leather coat gave him a mysterious look paired with the intense look he gave Michael.

Michael felt his heart skip a beat as the boy looked him up and down appraisingly before nodding for the Girl to jump on the motorcycle behind him. The boy glanced over to three of his friends before locking eyes with Michael again. The three boys accompanying him on their own bikes looked to be a rowdy and dangerous bunch as they laughed and roughhoused with each other. Their leather jackets identifying them as comrades in a gang of some sort. Michael had no chance with the Girl, he was nothing compared to these bad boys she seemed keen on.

"She stiffed you, Mike." Sam unhelpfully commented. Michael didn't want to admit that he felt hurt by the Girl's teasing and leading-on through the boardwalk. But if he knew one thing, it's that girls like her don't last long with guys like that bleach blonde biker.

With a wink, the bleach blonde boy roared off on his motorcycle followed by his friends. Michael huffed then led his brother back to the parking lot to wait on their mother to return from her search for a new job. He hoped that she was lucky in her endeavors, she deserved it.

\-------

A few nights later brought the return of Michael in search of mimicking the look of those boys the beautiful Girl left with. The leather jackets sold on the boardwalk weren't cheap, but Michael was desperate to impress the girl he was so intent on. He already had a bike (although his dirt bike wasn't exactly as cool as he wanted the blonde boy's motorcycle) and a leather jacket and cool earring weren't all that hard to get. Style wasn't cheap, and he needed a lot of it if he wanted to get the Girl. Thank god he had gotten that job picking up trash off the beach earlier in the week.

Michael made his way over to a kiosk advertising the services of piercings and observed a red-haired girl currently getting her ears pierced. She looked a bit anxious at the needle about to be inserted into her ear as a woman assured her that it wouldn't hurt and that yes, it would be so worth it.

"It's a scam." A deep voice whispered into his ear. Michael whirled around to see the bleach blonde boy from the night before smirking at him. Up close, Michael could see that the boy's eyes were a clear blue, like the small pools after a tidal wave. "They say that the piercings are cheap, but they're not. If you want, I can recommend you to someone that won't charge you so much."

Michael was confused and a bit weirded out by the boy's offer. It wasn't every day that a random boy would invade another boy's space so closely.

"No thanks, umm." Michael left a gap for the boy to fill his name with. Putting a name with a face would help him remember him as the type of person he should probably be their good side.

"David." He held out his hand for Michael to shake. Michael grasped his gloved hand and gave a quick movement.

"Michael. No thanks, David, but I don't know if I can trust you."

David nodded before watching the girl getting her piercing cry out softly in pain. Michael cringed at the look on her face, he was starting to get cold feet on the idea of a piercing. He knew that his younger brother had gotten a piercing a few months earlier and begged him to go with him, but Michael had hardly seen the point in getting one, until now.

"Look, I can tell that you're new to Santa Carla and don't know anyone here. I can also tell that you want to fit in with the people around you. I can tell that you want the attentions of a certain pretty girl. And I can tell that you want to have a little fun while you're here. Get to know me and I'll show you how to have fun around here. You can trust me, Michael."

Michael could see himself trusting David to show him some fun. Michael, David, and his rowdy looking friends with their motorcycles roaring down the roads of Santa Carla. The Girl from last night with her arms wrapped around his waist and hair blowing wildly around her head. They could get girls from all around the city, Michael would be the coolest kid around. Michael would fit in with the other teens in Santa Carla and he definitely wouldn't be known as the New Kid from Phoenix. It would all be so easy. What could he lose?

"Alright David, I'm interested."

David gave a small smile before leading Michael along to where their bikes were conveniently parked together. The three boys that accompanied David last night were leaning against their bikes, laughing and talking about some joke with the Girl. The Girl had her hand covering her smiling face as they all laughed boisterously with one another.

"Boys, Michael here is going to join us tonight. Why don't we make him welcome in our friendly little group? Introduce yourselves."

The three boys laughed, cheered, and patted Michael on his back and shoulders.

"I'm Dwayne." The solemn faced brunette boy said as he revved the engine of his bike.

"Paul. Get ready for a good time, Mikey." The blonde boy with the rocker hair gave a shark-like grin in Michael's direction.

"My name's Marko." The smallest boy in the group hopped onto his own bike, laughing and chewing on a finger of the gloves he wore the whole while.

The Girl stepped forward, smiling gently up at Michael. Her luscious brown curls were draped teasingly over her shoulders again as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, well, well." The Girl smirked. "Look who it is. _The Boy Who Followed Me. _Still want to talk to me?"__

____

____

"Yeah, I still want to talk to you," Michael said. "Do you want to talk to me?"

"If you want to talk to her, Michael, you have to join us first." David wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulder then gestured to the rest of the boys on their bikes. Dwayne waited patiently as his bike rumbled continuously, waiting to speed forward. Paul revved his bike repeatedly, the sound cutting through Michael's thoughts on what these boys thought was a good time. If the Girl was content to tag along with them, despite their dangerous looks, then Michael couldn't see the problem with it. "Star, hop on. We're going for a ride. Do you know where Hudson's Bluff is, Michael?"

_'Does he want to race me? My bike isn't fast enough for that. Oh, shit.' ___

____

____

"Yeah, but I can't beat your bike."

"You don't have to beat me, Michael." David looked confident, his eyes imploring Michael to join their little game. "You just have to try and keep up."

\-----

Peer pressure was the one thing that kicked Michael's ass the most. Michael had a habit of getting strung into doing things that he probably shouldn't do and knew that he would get in trouble for, but that didn't stop him from doing it. The need to look good and keep his self-image intact was like a drug that Michael couldn't resist. So when David told him to ride with them to Hudson's Bluff, Michael agreed. Although there was a little voice in the back of his head saying _'don't do it' _, Michael ignored his common sense and let his loins lead where his mind should have.__

____

____

But no one could tell him that he didn't enjoy riding his bike with David's boys over the sand and away from the beach. It was thrilling and Michael sort of felt like he could belong with them as Marko, Paul, and Dwayne encouraged Michael to keep up with them. At first, he had been a little hesitant to follow along with them on the sand given that he could slip and crash at any time, but it was all worth it once Star looked back at him. Their cheers carried onto the whipping wind as they raced between trees leading up to Hudson's Bluff.

Michael could see the stretch of Hudson's Bluff disappearing quickly in front of him. He wanted to win Star's affections and fit in, but not at the price of his life. Even with David goading him on to continue their little game of chicken, Michael knew he couldn't beat the other boy.

Michael pulled hard on the breaks of his bike as fell to the side only seconds before he could fall off the cliff and into the rocks jutting out of the sea. Michael felt his heart stutter and his stomach drop as he looked out to what could have been his early death. A hot wave of anger overcame him as he scrambled away from his bike and towards where David sat all high and mighty on his bike.

"What the hell are you doing?" Michael yelled as he swung a punch at David. His fist landed square in the blonde's jaw as Paul and Marko ran forward to pull him back. Michael yanked his arms back from them as he pointed at David. "Just you! Come on! _Just you!" ___

____

____

David looked unfazed and amused at Michael's show of anger as he smiled. Michael wanting to fight him seemed so hilarious to him and he was enjoying the display of masculinity.

"How far are you willing to go, Michael?" David was impressed with him. Michael was showing signs of everything he wanted in the brunette; guts, ferocity, and a killer's instinct that could resemble a wildcat's.

Michael was finally wary of what David was intending. Maybe he was trying to lead him over the cliff, or maybe he just wanted to know how far Michael was willing to go in order to be one of them. Whatever David's reasons, Michael would be on alert.

\-----

David and his boys led Michael and Star to a dangerous and decrepit hole in the ground that they called home. David's introduction of the place made it seem like a paradise to the boys as they whooped and hollered while Dwayne lit oil barrels to create more light in the once opulent resort. Although there were junk and rubble everywhere, it didn't seem all that bad to Michael. Yeah, some things could be cleaned and tossed out, but it appeared okay. Sort of like a clubhouse for edgy teens.

"Marko," David called as he led Michael around the sunken cave of a hotel. Michael felt the heavy weight of David's arm on his neck as he walked along with him. "Food. That's what I like about this place. You ask, and then you get."

As they were passing by the broken fountain, Paul handed David the joint he'd lit up and started smoking as soon as they had entered. David thanked the other boy then offered it to Michael claiming it to be an appetizer. Michael deliberated it for half a second before seeing no wrong or danger in the drug he was about to partake in.

"You'll like it here, Michael," David assured as he went to seat himself in an old wheelchair.

As much as he'd hate to admit it, Michael did like it there. The place seemed like it was on a different plane of existence, like nothing from the outside could touch them. All other problems and pains were left out by the gates warning against trespassing because here was where they could belong and live freely. Michael was starting to desire the idea of joining David's little gang of friends.

For what seemed like ten minutes or possibly more, Michael couldn't tell because of the effects of the joint, Marko came back with boxes of Chinese food and passed the containers around to the boys and Star. Star's glassy eyes stared back at Michael's as she stood close to the wall behind David wrapped in an old sheet.

Michael could swear that he wasn't going crazy as he saw maggots and worms in the rice and noodles David offered him. The weed wasn't that strong and it definitely wasn't his first time having the thick smoke in his lungs. Maybe they laced it with another drug, PCP or something. As Marko, Paul and Dwayne laughed away, Michael felt embarrassment and annoyance override the confusion he felt as he mentally went over what he'd seen. He was so sure that there were maggots wriggling in his carton of rice and worms sliding around in David's noodles. But it could have just been the drugs.

Michael glanced over to where Star stood in the shadows, but she was pretty out of it for the moment. Her eyes roamed everywhere and never stayed in one place for more than a minute or two as she mumbled incomprehensible words to herself. It seemed that Star was in her own little world, unaware of the people around her. Star was useless to comfort Michael right now.

David gave a little gesture to Marko, whispered in his ear, and the boy went off to grab some old bottle emblazoned with decoration. David looked pleased as the bottle caught Michael's attention. The boys went silent as David uncorked the bottle and took a small drink and shivered from the strength of the liquid. David's pale blue eyes were intense and unwavering as he held the bottle out to Michael.

"Drink some of this, Michael." He said lowly. "Be one of us."

Michael's wariness from the bike ride had already been diminished as the drugs worked its way to make him more relaxed and easy going. Michael assumed that drinking from that wine bottle was like sealing the deal that he would be one of them and closer to winning over Star. He walked over to where David sat in his wheelchair on unsteady feet and took the bottle from David's gloved hands. Star's mindless babble started to increase in volume and didn't make any more sense than when he could barely hear her. She muttered something about blood and turning before Dwayne started to chant his name. Paul and Marko joined which loosened up his hesitance as he examined the bottle for something that would hint at what could be inside it.

David whispering his name made him feel like he had to do it, to join the boys, to impress Star, and to finally fit in. Michael tipped the bottle to his lips and felt to liquid cover his taste buds. It was the strangest wine he'd ever tasted in his life. It was bitter and left a slight coppery aftertaste in his mouth. David clapped and the boys cheered as Michael gulped down large swallows of the wine.

_"Michael! Michael! Michael!" ___

____

____

The boys chanted his name as they all ran around the cave smoking and yelling to their heart's desires. Paul clapped him on the shoulder as he drank from the bottle of wine, welcoming him as a new Lost Boy. Dwayne took Michael aside to pierce his ear and give him jewelry to 'commemorate the occasion'. Marko danced and pulled him along as David watched and sometimes joined in. The boombox someone brought in blasted rock music that added to the adrenaline and positive atmosphere around them. Star had quietly fallen asleep on the canopy bed some ways away from the pseudo party the boys threw in Michael's honor.

\-----

Michael couldn't exactly remember who wanted to take their little celebration somewhere else and out of the cave, but they ended up driving to the train tracks over the ravine.

"Perfect timing." David mused as they got off their bikes and walked along the tracks together. The highs of the joint and wine were starting to wear off a little bit as he followed along the boys falling into place naturally.

"What's going on?" Michael asked as he took careful steps so as not to fall from the wide gaps in the tracks.

"Michael wants to know what's going on," David informed the boys as if they couldn't hear Michael himself. Paul's laughing echoed around them in the ravine below. "Marko? What's going on?"

"I don't know." Marko intoned as Paul hopped and leaped next to Michael. Michael could see it now, the joke they were making. Withhold information on the new guy to make it all so much more intriguing. They thought they were all so smart. "What's going on, Paul?"

"Who wants to know?" Paul slurred jovially as they moved along.

"Michael wants to know." Dwayne replied, smirking slightly.

"I think we should let Michael know what's going on," David said as he wrapped an arm around Michael's shoulder to stop him and let him watch what would unfold. "Marko . . ."

"Good night, Michael." Marko gave a little wave before dropping from the tracks and into the fog below. His voice still heard as he fell. "Bombs away!"

Michael was shocked as the other boys started to voluntarily go down with him.

"Bottoms up, man." Paul dropped down second with Dwayne right after giving a finger guns salute to top it all off.

"Come with us, Michael." David's voice brooked no harmful intent as his eyes practically implored him to join along. The pale blonde dropped down and Michael was immediately concerned over what they were all doing. As he kneeled down to look below the rails, he was overcome with relief and disbelief that the Lost Boys were actually crazy enough to hang from train tracks over a ravine. The boys cheered and called for Michael to join them in their fun game. "Michael Emerson, come on down."

Michael thought that the boys didn't look like they were having trouble holding onto the bars, so he assumed that he wouldn't either. Michael climbed down and hung from the bars of the rails with the boys and the cheering increased double the amount.

"Welcome aboard, Michael." Paul teased as Dwayne swung with one hand in front of him.

Just then, the sound of a train approaching reached Michael's ears. The tracks above them started to shake hard, causing Michael to grip harder onto the rail. Fear gripped Michael's heart as the realization that he very well might die set in. The boys laughed and cheered as the train trundled on above them, the rails shook violently and Michael's hand started to burn as he struggled to keep himself from falling to certain death. Paul laughed and cheered as he let go of the rail and fell into the fog below.

_"Jesus Christ!" _Micheal let go of one hand in a futile attempt to grab onto Paul as he fell into the gray abyss below. Marko and Dwayne's cheering never stopped as their comrade fell.__

____

____

"Don't be scared, Michael!" Marko yelled over the loud whistle of the train and the rattling of metal on metal. He then let go of the rails, yelling on the way down. Dwayne was next as he went down and disappeared into the fog. Michael was frightened of how they had all possibly died and only he and David were left hanging onto the rails. He didn't want to see David drop down to his death which would lead to his inevitable one if he couldn't hang on too.

"Michael, you're one of us, let go!" David yelled.

"And do what?" Michael was extremely stressed out by this situation. Of course, he had to join a group of suicidal maniacs who got kicks out of scaring the shit out of everyone around them.

"You are one of us, Michael!" David assured before letting go of the rails and dropping out of sight.

"David!" Michael screamed as the pale blonde fell. He swore he felt his stomach drop as he watched David fall before him. What the hell would he do now? He was hanging for his life on the bottom of some train tracks on a bridge over a ravine. How could this night get any crazier than this? Michael held on as long as he could as the train started to go farther and farther away from him. Somehow, the boys were still calling for him below the fog. He had just seen them fall to their absolute death, how were they still alive and calling his name? God, had they died and come back as ghosts to haunt him for not talking them out of this crazy-ass scheme?

David's voice was like a whisper in his mind as he struggled to pull himself back up, whimpers filling the air as his strength left his arms. For once in his life, Michael couldn't manage a pull up that prevent his imminent death. He could feel his fingers slipping and losing their grip on the railing and was praying to anybody listening from high above that he wouldn't die. He screamed as he fell on and on, never finding any surface to land on. The wind pushed and pulled at him as he descended continuously. And Michael had one single thought to himself before going unconscious; _'Is this what flying is like?' ___

____

____

\-----

The most annoying thing in the world was undoubtedly Sam's habit of being a morning person. Michael knew for a fact that he didn't get that trait from their mother and father. Lucy was never really herself until she had one or two cups of coffee and their father was never awake in the morning unless it was to go out and get hammered again. Michael was the type to withhold the act of waking until it was absolutely necessary.

"MIke, wake up!" Sam yelled as he entered Michael's room and opened the blinds. The bright sunlight hit Michael's face directly, causing the older boy to flinch and wake up. "It's Mom."

Michael used an arm to cover his face from the piercing light that seemed to burn his eyes even when closed. Sam grabbed the phone set sitting on his bedside table and placed it on his chest.

"Mom's home?" He was sure that she had left earlier for some reason and assumed that she went to the store or something else that mothers did during the day.

"No, on the phone, Mike."

"What time is it?"

"It's two o'clock." _Damn, how long was I asleep? When did I get back? Was the bridge a dream or what? Why is the sun so damn bright? ___

____

____

"Give me those sunglasses."

Sam placed the sunglasses in his hand and made a smart remark all the while, as usual.

"You need sunglasses to talk on the phone?" _God, he's such an ass. _"Are you freebasing? Inquiring minds want to know."__

____

____

Michael gave Sam the finger before fumbling with the phone. He felt as if he had cotton stuck in his mouth as he attempted to make it seem like he didn't just wake up from Sam's intrusion.

"Michael, are you still in bed?"

He was, but it's not like Michael would admit to that. What their mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"No, I'm up."

"Michael, would you do me a favor? Max asked me to go to dinner with him after work tonight. Would you stay home with Sam?"

Michael felt irritation lance through him at his mother's request. Why should he watch after Sam? The younger boy was fourteen years old, he could do whatever he wanted as long as he didn't kill himself.

"Sam is old enough to stay by himself right now." Michael tried to stress to his mother how they weren't babies anymore without verbally saying it. Their mother could take a hint though.

"I don't need a babysitter, Mike." Sam _unhelpfully _replied from near the window.__

____

____

"Michael, you come home in the middle of the night, you sleep all day. I work all day. Sam is always alone." Michael didn't want to hear the speech of how he needed to be responsible of Sam and how Sam was always getting into trouble without someone watching after him. "It's been a long time since somebody asked me to dinner. I'd like to go. Okay?"

Ugh. Michael felt the guilt of the situation kicking in and he hated the feeling. He didn't want to be up at ass-crack o'clock in the morning with Sam trailing behind him and he sort of didn't care that his mother was going on a date with some guy who hired her. But he had to be a good son, or else Lucy might ground him and forbid him from going out until he turned thirty. Michael conceded to her favor, he'd remember this and eventually call in one of his own favors.

"Thanks, it's a real favor." She sounded happy. That guy had better be worth all Michael's trouble. "Bye-bye."

After Lucy hung up the phone, Michael immediately turned over and went back to sleep. Sam would be alright if he just got in a few more minutes of sleep. And if he told their mother that Michael was still asleep, he would beat the crap out of Sam.

\-----

Michael finally woke up around dark, well-rested and still moody at the world around him. He got up and went downstairs to see what Sam and Grandpa were getting up to and wasn't disappointed with what he found. Sam passed Grandpa a small bottle of Windex and watched as the old man patted the liquid as if it were aftershave or cologne.

"You have a big date tonight, Grandpa?" Michael felt unreasonably pissed. It seemed like everyone was getting a date with someone special while he was stuck at home with his younger brother for company. Grandpa looked incredibly eager as he explained what expected from the night.

"I'm gonna drop off some of my handiwork to the Widow Johnson."

"What'd you stuff for her? Mr. Johnson?"

Michael watched with cruel glee as the smile on his grandfather's face dropped as he took in the offense from Michael's comment. The older man left with a goodbye and rushed onwards to his jeep, trying to seem unperturbed at Michael's sass.

"That wasn't funny," Sam said as soon as Grandpa was gone. Michael rolled his eyes from behind his sunglasses that were still perched on his face. They could hear Grandpa's weird horn play as he made his way out of the driveway and onto the road to the Widow Johnson's. "I'm gonna make you a sandwich, Mike."

Michael felt an empty hole in his stomach that for some reason he knew couldn't be filled with any food Sam would make, especially a sandwich voluntarily made.

"Don't bother."

Sam seemed to be fed up with Michael's attitude as he tossed the cap to the mayonnaise of the table and gave him a patronizing stare.

"Lose the earring, Michael. It's not you. It's definitely not you." Michael could tell that Sam was a bit angry when he used his full name instead of shortening it as usual. And it made Michael's irritation flare up for some reason.

"Piss off." Sam threw his sass right back at him, matching Michael barb for barb. No one couldn't say that he didn't deserve it.

"All you do is give attitude lately. You watching too much _Dynasty _, bud?"__

____

____

The wind outside started to pick up, blowing the curtains wildly as the sound of motorcycles filled the kitchen. Nanook barked as lights started to accompany the sounds outside the house. Michael could swear that he knew those bikes out there, circling around the house. It sounded exactly like the Lost Boys were riding donuts around them. Michael raced from the kitchen and into the sitting room where whoops and cheers started to reach his ears as the bikes continued circling around.

Michael could hear David saying his name as if he were whispering right in his ear. The sound held an eerie tone to it as Michael went closer to the door. He paid no attention to Sam yelling for him to leave the door closed and the comeback. He had to go out there, the Lost Boys were calling him to them, David was calling his name.

When Michael opened the door, it all suddenly ended. The lights, the engines of the bikes, and the Lost Boys stopped calling for him. Michael no longer felt the strange pulling sensation taking him to the door where they were waiting for him. There was nothing out there in the dark waiting to pull Michael into its arms. Michael pulled the door closed as he stared out the window, waiting for it all to show up again.

"What's going on, Mike?" Sam sounded so scared, his voice light and weak to Michael's ears.

"Go take your bath."

Sam did as Michael told him with no resistance or complaint, happy to be rid of the brief scare they had. After making sure that there was actually no one outside the house, Michael went into the kitchen for a drink of milk to calm his frayed nerves. Before the carton could touch his lips, pain went through his abdomen. It felt as if someone had stabbed him and was twisting the knife left and right inside him. Michael fell to the floor in pain and struggled to breathe through it like he felt he should do. Michael could hear a thumping noise, like a heartbeat, from somewhere. Maybe it was his own heart beating in his ears?

The pain slowly went away from him and was replaced with a fierce hunger. Michael had the short thought of taking Sam up on his offer of making a sandwich, but he felt disgusted by the idea of food. No, he was hungry for something else entirely, he just didn't know what he was hungry for. Michael would let his stomach lead him to what he could feast on tonight.

The smell of something sweet was in the air. Michael immediately followed the scent, mouth salivating from the anticipation. He could hear Sam upstairs in the bathroom, singing along to his music as he bathed. A strange and animalistic part of Michael took hold of him in that moment as he climbed the stairs slowly and quietly. Michael lurked up and up until he stood outside the door of the bathroom, listening to his brother sing off-key to the music. The thumping heartbeat that Michael heard in the kitchen was not his own, he realized, but Sam's. Michael's own heartbeat pounded and raced in his chest as he was engulfed with the sickly sweet scent he was so hungry for.

Michael could hear a soft growling on the other side of the door, Nanook. Michael hardly cared for his brother's dog as he twisted the knob of the door and opened it. Nanook stood in front of the tub, protective as Sam was submerged in bubbly water and practically surrendering himself to harm. The husky barked loudly as Michael lifted one foot to step inside and attack. Michael stepped back as Sam pulled himself from out of the water and stared confused between Michael and Nanook.

"Mike? What's going on?" Sam asked as he wiped his face of soap and residing shampoo. "Nanook, stop!"

Michael felt the animalistic hunger disappear as he focused on the sound of Nanook's incessant barking. A moment passed before Nanook quieted down and Michael fell onto the floor in a weak heap.

"Mike! You okay?" Sam jumped out of the tub, getting water all over the bathroom floor as he wrapped himself in a bathrobe and kneeled to check on his brother. "Are you sick? Dying? Talk to me, Michael!"

Michael could hardly form the words to tell Sam that he would be okay as long as he could let him breathe for a moment. He waved his arm weakly to make Sam quiet down as Nanook came forward to sniff at his hair. Sam wiggled around restlessly as Michael took a moment to come back to himself and question what the hell just came over him. He was just about to hurt his brother for some strange reason, all because he was hungry. What was going on? Was he becoming some sort of psycho or something?

"I'm gonna call Mom for help, Mike. You need to go to the hospital or something." Michael's hand shot out to grab onto Sam as he got up to leave the bathroom in search of a phone.

"No!" Michael slurred. "I'm alright, just a lil' dizzy."

The world was spinning around him as his face was pressed into the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. Maybe he was getting sick. Michael decided that he probably needed to get to bed, sleep off this craziness.

"Help me to my room, Sammy."

The boys staggered into Michael's room on the other side of the bathroom. Sam dropped Michael heavily onto the bed as the older boy started to stumbled over his own feet. Michael could hear the beating in his ears again as Sam left the room and went to his own with Nanook trailing behind him. It was louder and faster than before as Michael squirmed about on the bed. Fatigue thankfully pulled him under its wing as Michael fell asleep.

Michael had woken up with his face pressed into the ceiling of his room and a gentle wind keeping him aloft only half an hour after Sam left. He started to panic as he attempted fruitlessly to make himself go down and back onto the ground like a normal person would. As Michael struggled to face the floor and maybe kick himself off the ceiling, he noticed that the windows were closed. Where was the wind coming from? A strange gut feeling was dragging him towards the window as he scrambled to find purchase to resist it. Michael grabbed onto the curtain or anything to help him come down from mid-air so he could make sense of what was going on. Although he didn't actively want to, he lifted the window open and was carried outside by a strong gust of wind. Michael grasped desperately at the pane of the window and screamed for someone to help him. It was getting stronger and Michael couldn't hold onto it any longer, his fingers were slipping and he was already so weak from the bathroom. Michael snagged the phone on his bedside table as his fingers finally slipped on the window pane and was hovering helplessly in the blowing wind outside the house.

Apparently, his screams and noises of distress were being ignored by Sam, who was only two rooms away from where Michael barely hung from his own. The cord on the phone lengthened dangerously and Michael knew that soon enough it would break and he'd have nothing else to hold onto as the wind dragged him to god knows where. Michael started to hover near the window of Sam's room and he knocked urgently on the glass.

"Sammy! Help me!" Michael screamed as he watched his brother shift about on the bed, asleep with Nanook wrapped around him. "Wake the hell up, Sam!"

Nanook lifted his head from under Sam's arm and trotted over to the window where Michael was trying to reach.

"Nanook, go wake him up. Go wake Sammy." Michael ordered. The dog sat there for a moment, watching Michael knocking desperately at the window and simply laid down on his paws. "You goddamn traitor! I'm gonna kill you when I get my hands on you! You stupid shitty-"

The cord on the phone snapped and Michael was practically snatched by the wind as he flew away from the house. He screamed and yelled for help as he soared higher and higher into the sky to an unknown destination.

_"Ahhh! Help me, please!" _Michael begged. He couldn't see where the wind was taking him as the clouds were obscuring his vision and he was turning uncomfortably in the air. He was so dizzy and scared as he couldn't control it all. An indiscernible amount of time passed by before he felt himself being lowered to the ground. Michael could see the sand on the beach getting closer and closer until he fell roughly four feet to the ground.__

____

____

The sound of the waves splashing against each other was soothing to his ears as he realized that the small scare was over. Michael was fatigued and fell unconscious once his body relaxed. He was going to kill that dumb dog tomorrow and maybe Sam, too, for being such a heavy sleeper.

\-----

When Michael woke up sometime the next day, it wasn't morning. The drug-like lethargy that troubled Michael in the daytime was nonexistent and was replaced with the energy he was comfortable in the night. And the kicker was that he wasn't on the beach like he was last night, he was in the Lost Boys' cave.

"Morning, Michael." Michael looked for the source of the voice and found David sitting in his wheelchair, smirking at him around a lit cigarette. "Or should I say good night?"

"How did I get here?" Michael rasped. His throat was scratchy and felt dry, he was thirsty for something and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"We found you on the beach last night around midnight. You were unconscious and we thought you'd like a place to rest your head. Besides, we didn't know where you lived."

Michael remembered the gusts of wind trying to pull him outside and away from the house, succeeding in its endeavors to take him away. He also recalled the sound of the Lost Boys and their bikes circling around the house, David calling his name like a siren to a sailor.

"But I heard you guys outside my house last night. I heard you calling me and your bikes going around and around."

David chuckled and stood to cross the room where Michael sat on the canopied bed.

"We were on the boardwalk last night with a couple of girl's we picked up. We let them go once we found you lying face-first in the sand, we thought you were dead for a second. Then you started talking in your sleep about a dead dog and heavy sleepers."

God, what was going on with him? He'd been flying around last night and almost attacked his brother in the bath. Is he going crazy? This is some Jeffery Dahmer type of shit here.

"The craziest thing happened to me last night before you apparently found me on the beach."

David gave him a 'go on' type of look before letting gray smoke curl from his pink lips.

"Don't think I'm crazy or anything, because I'm not. At least, I don't think I'm crazy." Michael took a deep breath before relaying the events of the night before to David. The pain and hunger he felt, the animalistic side that came over him, and the flying he had done. It was all so crazy to him and he had the feeling that David would think he was insane or something.

"I don't think you're crazy. I think you're just stressed or something. Maybe you had a bad trip after you took a hit from that weed Paul had." David's words somewhat comforting as he tried to associate the idea with what happened to him last night. Maybe it had been the drugs and Michael had a delayed reaction to it. Or maybe it was the stress of moving, his parents' divorce, and trying to fit in. "Maybe you should just chill out a little, Michael. The Boys and I were planning on having a party or something, but I guess we can just rest easy tonight"

Michael didn't want to cramp on the boys' style and ruin their planned party just because he had a scary night. It wasn't right to take the boys' hospitality and wreck their moods, he could suck it up tonight and pretend like the other night was just a nightmare. It probably was just a nightmare. It was a nightmare.

"David, no. You guys don't have to do all that just for me. You guys can have fun and do whatever tonight. It's all my problem anyway, I'll get out of your hair if you want me to."

Michael's attempt to get up and leave the cave was interrupted by David's hand on his shoulder. The pale blonde locked eyes with Michael and shook his arms.

"Alright." David conceded. "But just remember this, Michael; you're almost a Lost Boy now. Any problem of yours is a problem of ours. We take care of each other as best we can. Okay?"

Michael felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The worry he'd felt that he probably wouldn't fit in with the Lost Boys, the worry that they would just cast him aside once they realized that he wasn't what they wanted, was gone as David squeezed his arms gently to solidify his words.

"Okay, David."

David smirked then handed Michael his jacket from where it had previously been draped over his shoulders but brushed aside as he woke. Michael thanked the other boy then looked around for the other boys, which he noticed were missing from sight.

"Where are the others?"

David turned to leave the cave which lead to Michael falling into place behind him as they scrambled out.

"The boys are getting some supplies for our party. They expect us to show up sometime soon so we can start. It's going to be a fun night, Michael. Just you wait."

\-----

Michael got back home from partying with the Lost Boys around nine o'clock the next morning. Thankfully he had tucked his sunglasses in the pocket of his jacket the day before as the sun was practically burning his eyes. Michael could feel a headache as he was hungover and hungry for something unidentifiable again. As Michael climbed onto the porch to make his way inside to crash, he noticed his mother sitting on the wicker chair near the door. Apparently, she had been waiting for him to show up after last night.

"Hi." She was smiling, belying the possible disappointment that Michael could feel emanating from her. "Hey, aren't we friends anymore?"

Michael was really tired after the party last night. He didn't want to be questioned by his mother and he didn't want to interact with anyone until he felt fine enough to pretend he wasn't pissed at the sun for being too bright. God, wasn't there a rule for people not to mess with anyone the morning after getting shitfaced?

"Sure." He said shortly. The quicker he got through this conversation, the better. _'David wouldn't give me the third degree if I came home late. He'd probably let it slide' ___

____

____

"Does that mean we are, or . . .?" Lucy brought her cup of coffee close as she attempted to conceal her concern. What was wrong with Michael these days? Was it the sudden move from Phoenix? The divorce from her husband. No, it couldn't be that. Michael was the one who supported her decision to divorce, he was the one who wanted to get away from their father the most. Why was he acting so different? Where was the good little boy Lucy knew so well?

"We are." He spoke as if he was tired of her. Was it something she did? Lucy forced a smile on her face, she didn't want to make it seem like she wasn't on his side because she was and always will be.

"Then let's act like friends. Let's talk."

Michael resisted the urge to scream and throw things. He didn't want to talk. Why couldn't she just understand that he wasn't in the mood for a pow wow with mommy? Michael was almost an adult, it was time for him to do grown up things and handle things on his own. He wasn't going to be mommy's little boy forever, he had to grow up.

"Michael, take off your glasses."

Michael took off his glasses and wanted to roll his eyes, the big speech on how he needed to be more responsible was coming up. Blah, blah, blah.

"Look at me. If there's a girl-"

Now he had to stop her, he was tired and hungover and didn't want to be lectured about parental bullshit he didn't have time for.

"I'm tired, Mom." He knew he was coming off as disrespectful, but he _just didn't care. ___

____

____

"We could talk about-"

"I'm tired." He had stressed it a second time. What did she not understand about him being tired?

"We could talk about anything you want to talk about." She was _sooo _insistent on talking when he was _sooo _insistent of sleeping the day away.____

_____ _

_____ _

"I have more serious things on my mind that whatever you want to talk about. I have already told you that I don't want to go to school so please don't bring it up again. And would you please understand that I'm an adult now? I'm going to do things that you don't agree on and I'm probably going to be out at all hours of the night doing whatever I please just because I'm young and reckless. You gotta stop treating me like a kid, Mom. Go give this speech to Sam because he'll probably appreciate it better than I ever will."

Michael watched as the look of understanding on his mother's face fell and was replaced with confusion. He wasn't her son anymore, Michael was replaced with someone else. Somebody had turned her son into a monster intent on ripping apart anyone and everyone in his path. Her little boy was gone.

Lucy watched as Michael disappeared inside the house and wondered again where it all went wrong. What was it with Santa Carla that changed people? And why did it have to be her son of all people?

\------

The slamming of the front door made Sam and Grandpa Emerson jump from their places in the kitchen. Grandpa swirled around to remind Michael about the rules of the house but paused when he saw the look in his oldest grandson's eyes. Michael looked irritated and the look increased when he met the eyes of his younger brother.

"Sammy, you little shit!" Michael hissed as he strode forward into the kitchen. Sam jumped from his seat at the table and backed into the wall as Michael grasped his arms in a tight grip. Grandpa watched as Nanook started to growl and bark at Michael as the older boy crowded into the younger's space dangerously. "I swear that one of these days I will kill you and that stupid little mutt of a dog."

"What did I do, Mike? Don't threaten Nanook like that!" Sam yelled as he tried to push Michael away to no avail. "Why're you all mad like this?"

"I'm mad because I can't rely on you for anything!" Michael pulled his fist back to hit Sam but was held back by the hand of Grandpa.

"Leave the boy alone, Michael!" When Grandpa looked into Michael's eyes, they were no longer the dark blue that ran through the Emerson line but a golden color that he knew wasn't natural. They had gotten to the boy and it looked like he wasn't going to make it out of it. "Whatever problem you have with the boy, let it go."

Michael sneered at the both of them before stomping his way upstairs and slamming his door.

"What the hell is wrong with Mike, Grandpa?" Sam asked as he attempted to unwrinkle his shirt from Michael's rough hands. The young boy was shaking slightly from the real and palpable fear he felt. Sam thought that his brother was about to beat the crap out of him for some reason only known to Michael. Yes, the boys fought every once in a while and roughhoused, but this was different. It seemed like Michael was about to kill him with his bare hands.

"Your brother is going through something that I don't think we can help him out of. I think that they got him real good in their claws."

Sam gave his Grandpa a confused look as he went to finish his cereal.

"Who's they, Grandpa?"

"Don't worry about it, Sam." Grandpa sighed as he took a sip of his root beer. "We need to let him go before it all goes to hell."

\------

Michael finally came out of his room around eight o'clock when it had been well and dark outside. As he silently shut the door to his room, he saw the golden sliver of light coming from Sam's room. Sam was peeking around the door and watching Michael with frightened eyes.

"Sam-"

The door slammed shut before he could even say anything else. Michael knew that Sam wouldn't allow him to say anything else to him until he made it up to him so he didn't try to force the issue. Maybe he'd take him out to buy some comics tomorrow or something.

Michael turned away and quietly snuck downstairs and to the front door to get out of the house. He was feeling antsy the longer he remained inside and wanted to be out and about. It wasn't like his mother would say anything to him after his disrespectful little spiel this morning. Grandpa and Sam had probably gotten the idea to stay away after he almost beat Sam in the kitchen. Michael was a free man, with the added addition of being feared by his family.

As he opened the door, Michael was met with a tall man in glasses. The man looked like a dork as he was surprised by the appearance of the teen.

"How are you doing?" The man held a bouquet of flowers in one hand. Flowers like that only meant one thing in the world, this man was here on a date. What was his mom doing with a nerd like this guy? It's not like she would upgrade from her last husband given her history in men. "You must be Michael, right?"

"And you must be Max." Michael knew he sounded like an asshole to the man, but he couldn't help it. Some guy was in his territory and attempting to get close and personal with his mom, he didn't have to exactly roll out the damn welcome wagon.

The man nodded and stuck out his hand for Michael to shake. Who did this guy think he was putting his hand out there like they were friends? Next, the man would probably think that he was Michael's father and try to make it seem like they were the goddamn Brady Bunch. Michael wasn't into that sort of crap at the moment. Max seemed to shake off the offense and gather his resolve again.

"Well, you're the man of the house and I'm not coming in until you invite me."

_'What kind of chivalrous bastard is he?' ___

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"You're invited." Michael really wanted to scoff at this asshole. Ugh, he hoped his mother wouldn't consider marrying him.

"Thank you very much." Max smiled warmly at Michael and the teen had to stop himself from gagging. The faster he got away from them all, the better he'd feel. Michael slammed the door behind him as he left to get his bike from the garage. He wanted to head down to the boardwalk, maybe party with the Lost Boys again.

\-----

_"Here comes Mikey!" ___

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_"The young blood has arrived!" ___

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_"Michael, how ya doin'?" ___

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The Lost Boys yelled and cheered their greetings as Michael arrived at their usual parking space on the boardwalk. David remained quiet as the boys all came together to properly greet one another. Michael felt a prideful sense of belonging as the boys continued to make him welcome each time they met up in the night.

"You look a little out of it, Michael," David observed the brunette. Michael looked like he was starving and irritated. The wait would be over soon, Michael would be one of them and then the plan could continue onward. All he had to do was ease Michael into the right setting . . . "What's going on?"

Michael hesitated to tell David about what went down earlier in the day. But then again, David did say that he was a Lost Boy. And a Michael problem was a Lost Boys problem.

"My mom's giving me a headache questioning me about where I've been and what I'm doing. She wants me to stay in school but I don't feel like going. And Sam's being a little shit . . . I really want to get away from my family."

"Do you really want that Michael?" David asked.

As he thought about it, Michael felt sure. He was tired of having to deal with his mother's disappointed looks and the fearful expression on Sam and Grandpa's faces. He wanted to get away from the responsibilities of school and being an older brother. He wanted to be free and do whatever he wanted. And if his mother didn't like it, well tough shit.

"Yeah. I'd rather spend my time with you guys than to be stuck at home watching my brother all the time."

"No more school." Marko smiled.

"No more work." Paul cheered softly.

"No more responsibilities." Dwayne nodded in agreement.

"And no more annoying family members. I'm tired of it all." Michael felt as if he were starting to shed the skin of his formal self with each declaration. He was abandoning everything that used to define him; his family, his home, and his responsibility as a young adult. It was all gone and Michael would be a new man come the end of the night.

David clapped as a smirk grew on his face. Michael was ready, he was ready to be one of them. A Lost Boy, now and forever.

"It seems like Michael is ready," David announced as he mounted his bike. "Now who's hungry?"

\-----

David and the boys had lead Michael to a secluded part of the beach where a bonfire party was taking place. A group of surf nazis were dancing and drinking around the fire as the Lost Boys watched on with unrestrained glee. David waved Michael over to his side and was content with the lack of hesitation in Michael's footsteps.

"Where's the food, David?" Michael asked as the pale blonde wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Michael was familiar with the gesture enough to not want to shake it off and back away from the other boy. If anything, Michael stepped closer and basked in the feeling of David's body next to his.

"Initiation's over, Michael," David said as the hunger pains in the brunette's stomach started again with a vengeance. Michael doubled over in agony and held in screams as he writhed in the sand. David and the boys merely glanced over at the other boy as he lay practically crippled with hunger. "Time for you to join us."

Dwayne, Paul, and Marko began laughing as their faces shifted into a grotesque image frightening enough to scare a grown man. The three boys took to the sky and swooped down onto the surf nazis ignorant to what would be their demise. Screams filled the air as the boys ripped their fangs into the skin of the surf nazis. It was a bloodbath as the boys killed their prey happily, showing Michael what he was missing out on. Dwayne, Paul, and Marko each called out for Michael to join them in the massacre taking place in front of him. David kneeled down to the pained teen, running his gloved hand comfortingly through dark brown curls.

"Now you know what we are. Now you know what you are. You'll never grow old, Michael. And you'll never die. But you must feed."

David chuckled as Paul dragged a screaming surf nazi over to the pair before dropping the man into the sand. The man tried to crawl away from them but was stopped swiftly by David laying a clawed hand on his shaven head and sinking his fangs into the surf nazi's neck. Michael watched as little rivulets of blood spilled from the wound as David drank deeply. He could hear the rapid heartbeat of the man slowing down before David pulled away from him.

"You must be hungry, Michael. Come have a drink."

Michael was war with the emotions inside of him. He wanted to run and hide away from the Lost Boys, but he was so very hungry. The scent of the blood was calling to him, the heartbeat of the dying man a lovely song to his ears. He didn't want to kill the man, but if he knew that if he wanted the pain to go away then he would have to drink. And it was so hard to resist it all . . .

"Come on, Michael." David's voice was gentle as Michael crawled his way to his victim. "The pain and hunger will disappear."

Michael felt the surf nazi's warm skin under his lips as he opened his mouth to the gaping wound on the man's neck. The lone heartbeat Michael could hear spiked shortly as he drained the rest of the blood in the body. Michael felt euphoria kick in as he drank greedily from the vein of the man. All of his pain, all of his worries, and all of his responsibilities were gone as his mind blanked from his first kill.

Paul, Dwayne, and Marko yelled their excitement into the night air as Michael pulled back from the bloodless body of the former surf nazi. David pulled Michael to his feet as the brunette swayed from the rush of sensations to his head. The blood was like a drug to him, giving him the best high he could ever achieve.

"Good job, Michael. You're now an official Lost Boy, you belong with us."

And Michael could see no wrong with what he had become. A killer. Lurking the night for his next meal and dangerous to those he set his eyes on. He was a vampire. And he felt good.

"Welcome to the club, Michael." Paul cheered.

"Happy to be in the club, Paul." Michael smiled.

\-----

The day after Lucy's dinner with Max, Sam went out to the Frog brothers' comic shop to see if they would know anything about what was happening with Michael. Sam had known that Michael left last night but hadn't heard his older brother come back anytime in the night. Their mother was concerned and attempted to talk with Michael again this morning, but the room was devoid of its designated angsty teen boy. Something weird was going on with Michael and Sam was determined to find out what it was. Sam wanted his brother back and he'd do anything to get Michael to return to his usual self.

"Guys, there's something going on with my brother." Sam said as he entered the empty comic shop. Edgar was busy with unloading boxes of comics while Alan placed them all in designated spots.

"Describe the situation to us." Edgar grunted.

"He's been going out all night and when he gets back home in the daytime, he sleeps until it's dark. He's got a stinking attitude with everyone and almost beat the crap out of me for no reason."

Edgar and Alan shared a quick look with one another before they questioned him.

"Does he hate the sunlight?" Alan rasped.

"Yeah, he wears sunglasses all the time, even indoors."

"Does he have long nails? Bad breath?" Edgar grunted.

"His nails are longer than usual, tore into my shirt the other day. He always had bad breath though."

The Frog brothers shared another look before turning back to Sam to deliver the news.

"Your brother's a vampire," Edgar said. "You should get a stake and stab him in the heart with it."

_"What? _My brother can't be a vampire! And even if he was, he'd be a half-vampire like it says in the comics you gave me."__

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____

"The signs are all there, buddy. You need to end him before he ends you." Alan replied before turning back to the unsorted comics. Sometimes you had to be blunt with civilians to get it in their minds that the world just wasn't rainbows and unicorns.

"Mike can still go out into the sunlight, guys. All we gotta do is kill the head vampire and he'd go right back to normal."

"Does he know who the head vampire is?" Edgar asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't shown up at home yet. If I see him then I'll ask."

"If he doesn't show up before night, then it's too late for him. You gotta stake the bloodsucker before he comes back for you. And if you don't, then we will."

Sam gave a resigned sigh before coming up with a great idea.

"This all started when my mom went to work at Max's video store. Max never comes in until after it's dark. And I heard from my mom that he's always got his dog with him, maybe it's a hound of hell. I'm thinking that my mom is dating the head vampire and he got to Mike somehow."

Alan nodded. "Alright. It sounds legit. When will your mom see him again?"

"I heard him ask her on another date, this weekend. I'll see if we can tag along with them and we can investigate."

\-----

Lucy was worried about Michael, he hadn't come home in three days and she was ready to call the police. Maybe he had snuck out after their argument and gotten hurt? Or worse, kidnapped. She couldn't stand to think about what Michael was getting up to. Had he run away to live with a group of dangerous kids? She thought about that first morning Michael had come back late and practically dead to the world in his bed. He smelled like drugs and alcohol and there were dark rings settling under his eyes. Michael was going in a downwards spiral, just like his father. He was hurting the people around him as he fell deeper and deeper into the dark and she didn't want to see him hit rock bottom. Michael was her son and she loved him so much. He was her first born and held a special place in her heart that would never go away. Even in death would she love him. Maybe she'd wait another day before searching for him. She'd start down at the boardwalk and see where that took her . . .

\-----

Michael was on cloud nine with the Lost Boys. They had fun all night, did whatever they wanted without any consequence, and had the greatest gift on earth. Immortality was something that Michael could only dream of as a kid when watching movies. There was no Mom, Sam, or Grandpa there to restrain him. There was nothing holding Michael back from becoming the man he wanted to be, the animal he had become. The old Michael Emerson had died three days ago and was rebirthed as a creature of the night.

As the Lost Boys partied over the corpses of their newest kills, a family of tourists from the Carolinas, David and Michael sat together in the sand discussing a way to get rid of a little problem they had.

"You agree with the plan, Michael?"

The brunette nodded before cringing at the thought of what would be an irritating night to come. The plan was for Michael to go back to the Emerson house and find out information on when Max and Lucy were going on another date. The boys would form a plan of attack on the elder vampire, releasing the hold he had on the Lost Boys and Lucy. The backup plan they could count on would be Michael's blood bond to David and not Max, giving Michael the best chance of killing Max.

"Jeez, when I get back she'll try to keep me there and ground me."

David chuckled before wrapping his hand around Michael's nape. The younger vampire purred and preened at the attention his sire was giving him with just the small touch. David relished in showering Michael in the affection he lacked when Max had first turned him. David would be a better head vampire than Max could ever be. He wouldn't get silly ideas of having the perfect family, he wouldn't abandon his pack when they were too unruly for his tastes, and he definitely wouldn't leave them to go off wildly without any sort of proper punishment. This was why David was the leader of the Lost Boys, he knew how to take care of his pack and keep them in line, unlike Max.

"She can try to ground you and keep you. But remember that you belong to your pack, you belong to me, Michael."

Michael shivered at the declaration of ownership over him. It was refreshing to be reminded that Michael was David's first borne, that he held a special place in his sire's mind. The old Michael would have balked and been appalled by the insinuation that he would be someone's bitch, but the new Michael knew better. This wasn't a proclamation to be someone's property, this was safety and belonging in the basest of ways.

"Only you, David." Michael rasped. "I belong only to you. No one else."

David's grin was sinister in the orange glow of the flames. Michael was coming along beautifully, now all he had to do was kill Max and finish the rites. Michael would finally be his, now and forever.

"Let's go say hi to Mommy Emerson, boys."

The Lost Boys whooped and hollered as they drove their bikes to the Emerson household, tonight would be a good night.

\------

Lucy Emerson could hear the sound of motorcycles in the air outside of her old home. The familiarity of it sent chills down her spine as she recalled those biker boys from Max's video store circling around her like prey. She heard Sam race down the stairs and her father peek out of his 'Red Room' as Lucy liked to call it once upon a time. The sound of the engines got closer until it sounded like they were right at the front door then suddenly cut off at once. A moment of silence passed before heavy knocking hit the door, startling everyone in the house. Lucy went to the door but was held back by Sam's insistent pulling.

"Don't do it, Mom. It could be those stupid bloodsuckers for all you know."

Lucy huffed at her son's strange behavior and was about to tell him to stop before a familiar voice drifted through the wood.

"Mom?" It was Michael, after being gone for four days straight. "Can you let me in?"

"Don't do it, Mom. Mike's one of them too." Sam looked scared with his baby blue eyes so wide she thought his eyeballs would pop out.

"Your brother is not a monster, Sam. He's a troubled teen and is about to get a stern talking to."

Lucy opened the door and was met with Michael as she expected, but four other boys behind him on the porch. Were these the boys Michael had run away with?

"Hey, Mom." Michael began scratching at the nape of his neck in a sheepish way Lucy knew that he had been caught being bad. Lucy was furious with her eldest child. First he was shirking his responsibility like it meant nothing to her, then he was terrorizing everyone in the family, left for days, and coming back like he was hardly sorry? She couldn't believe the gall of her son.

"Get inside, Michael Emerson." She knew that could hardly sound angry given her soft-spoken nature, but right now was the only exception to that fact.

"May we come inside, Ms. Emerson?" The pale blonde from the left of Michael spoke up. His face was pulled into an awkward smile as he stood closely near her son, he was a little too close . . . "We don't want to intrude or anything of that nature."

Lucy wanted with all of her heart to say no to the boy and slam the door in his face for corrupting her son, but her mother taught her better than that, God bless her soul.

"You may come inside, boys. I just need to speak with my son for a moment, in private." Lucy directed that last bit towards Michael with an icy glare Michael had never seen before. The boys started to trail inside, offering Lucy thanks for the welcome into her home and greetings. These boys seemed polite to her, but they didn't look the part. "Michael, come with me."

Michael followed Lucy into the swinging doors of the kitchen that separated the pair from the rest of the company crowding in the living room.

\------

"What the hell did you guys do to my brother, huh?" Sam was trying to be brave in the face of danger, but he would rather be found naked in a girl's locker room than stuck with the guys Michael was affiliated with. Sam had the feeling that these guys were vampires and were trying to get Michael to join their little biker gang of bloodsuckers. The blonde one that looked like Twisted Sister gave Sam an amused smirk with just a turn of his lips and nudged the smaller blonde in the extravagant jacket next to him. The solemn-faced brunette with the long hair sat heavily on the couch and picked up one of Mom's book on the coffee table in front of him.

"Nothing that he didn't want, Sam." The pale blonde, Sam assumed to be the leader, smirked as he swaggered towards him. Sam stumbled backward until he fell into a recliner and proceeded to shrink backward until he couldn't get any smaller.

"W-what do you want from my brother?" Sam whimpered. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Grandpa was flanked on either side by the two other blondes. Had they come tonight to kill them off to make Michael finish the job? Were they going to be human chow? Would they eat Nanook?

"We're not going to kill you, yet. Your brother is one of us now, so get used to it. And if you can't get it through your thick head to keep away, we'll eat all of you. That includes the dog, too."

Sam heard Nanook whimpering in the corner, the weak traitor.

\------

"Where in the world have you been?"

Lucy looked at her son before her. He didn't look like himself anymore. The leather jacket, boots, and earring made him look like the boys he arrived home with. There was something different about the way Michael looked. It was in his body language and the set of his eyes, he looked like a predator ready to attack. What happened to her baby?

"Michael rolled his eyes and leaned onto the counter, his hand reached out to play with a butter knife left near the sink.

"I've been out and about with the boys, having fun," Michael said shortly. It sounded like he was itching to leave and forget the conversation with her, just like the last one.

"What's going on, Michael? Why are you doing this? Tell me and we can get through it together, just like old times."

Lucy came forward to hug her son and was met with a harsh look as she reached out to touch him. He looked like a touch from her would burn him, like her hand didn't belong on him. She wanted to break down and sob, her little boy really was lost to her. Those boys in the living room had taken him from her and changed him into something else, something different from her Michael. She probably wouldn't be getting him back anytime soon.

"Nothing's going on with me, Mom. I'm just doing what I want for once, being the man I want to be. I already told you before, I'm going to be young and reckless."

Tears burned Lucy's eyes at Michael's words. No love could be found in his eyes or his voice as he spoke, he had abandoned them all for a group of biker tyrants. A sigh came forward from Michael's lips as he noticed Lucy crying. A not-so-sympathetic hand fell onto her shoulder as the tears eventually dripped down her face.

"Did I do something wrong for you to treat me like this? Is it that I left the discipline to your father? Should I have been more strict? What happened to you, Michael? My sweet baby."

Michael grimaced as he watched his mother break down in front of him. He had to make her stop crying so he could get the information David needed.

"It's not you, Mom. It's just-" Michael was at a loss for words to comfort her. He didn't want to comfort her, it just felt weird. He couldn't stand it anymore as he listened to her sob wetly. It was time to rip the band-aid off. "Look, when is your next date with Max?"

"My date with Max? Michael, this is not the time to be worrying about my personal life. It's time to talk about what's been going on with you. I'm starting to think you need counseling before you end up in jail. With this path you're going down, you might end up dead with those boys."

Michael really wanted to correct her and tell her that he was already dead, but that would probably come about later.

"Just tell me when and where Mom. I'll explain my whole situation with the boys to you during this date with Max."

Lucy was willing to accept anything to know what was wrong with Michael, was willing to do anything within her power to get him back in her arms. She didn't like the looks he was giving her, as if she was a complete stranger to her. She wanted to reach out and touch him without him going all defensive on her.

"Max invited me to go bowling with him this Saturday at eight, Sam and his friends are coming along with us." Lucy wiped away the tears streaking her flushed cheeks. "Will you come? Will you tell me everything?"

"The whole truth," Michael smiled as he laid a hand over his heart. The smile on his face didn't belong to him, it looked like a killer's smile. "Promise."

\-----

When Michael walked out of the kitchen with Lucy in tow, Grandpa Emerson was relieved. The boy hadn't killed his own mother. He could tell that Michael was completely turned, it was in his eyes and the tense set of his shoulders. Michael was a predator and they were all his sort of prey.

The boys Michael entered with all turned to face the kitchen simultaneously, like they all had the same mind. Considering their nature as pack hunters, they practically did have the same mind. The pale blonde that was terrorizing Sam earlier stood and watched as Michael gravitated towards him. Grandpa watched with a growing suspicion as Michael seemed to ease bit by bit until he was comfortable standing next to what had been verified as the leader. There was something going on between them that he knew didn't normally happen with regular vampire packs.

"Let's go boys." The pale blonde said. The two vampires by his side gave him pats on his back and remarks to meet them again sometime. The long-haired brunette that had been quietly reading Lucy's book raised said object and walked over to his daughter.

"Can I borrow this?"

Lucy looked ready to yell and faint as the bare-chested vampire towered over her.

"Yes. I've read it about fifteen times."

The brunette smiled before walking out the door, leaving Michael and their leader behind. Michael turned to wave goodbye before going, the pale blonde following. A hand made its way to the small of Michael's back with no resistance before the door slammed closed, barring Grandpa from making more observations. It all clicked inside his mind then. The closeness between Michael and that lead vampire, the comfort around him and no other, and the intimate touch. There would be no way to separate Michael from that pack of vampires. And if they had to stake him, it would be extremely hard to do so.

"We gotta help him, Grandpa." Sam declared after the sounds of motorcycle engines faded. The pale faced fear that had painted his youngest grandson's skin was replaced with a strong determination that only Grandpa knew would probably get him killed. "Mike can be saved if we just find out-"

"No!" Grandpa snapped. He already lost his wife eight years ago, his oldest grandson, and he was damned if he would lose his daughter and youngest grandson. They were all he had left and he wanted them to live on peacefully if they could. If he could have prevented Michael's demise, he would have, but this would do. "You will do no such thing, Samuel Emerson. You'd better not go off after those boys and your brother. You stay here where it's safe and forget about it all. There ain't no saving Michael, not anymore."

"But Grandpa, I have some friends who can-"

"You and your friends will get it through your heads that you can't help him. If you even try to touch Michael around them boys, god help you make it through alive. He's one of them now and he can't come back."

"Dad, what do you mean? What do you know that I don't?" Lucy asked. She looked on the verge of tears again and he didn't want to break it to her. Her heart was already broken by her son and he didn't want to tell her what he was now. "Tell me."

"Michael is dangerous to those around him. He can and will hurt anyone that gets in his way. Those boys will hurt anyone that messes with any of them. Michael has a special connection with that boy with the mullet. If anyone hurts Michael or tries to separate them, then there will be hell to pay. The boy ain't coming back, Lucy, ever."

Lucy slumped onto the sofa where the brunette vampire had previously been reading. She covered her face with her hands as she began sobbing. Sam sat next to his mother and wrapped his arms around her in comfort. He felt the anguish she had at losing Michael to those bikers. It was all their fault that Michael wasn't the way he was anymore, the bikers' fault that Mike was a vampire now, and Max for getting them all involved. Sam just knew that the man was at the center of it all.

"And there's nothing we can do?" Lucy hiccuped.

"Nothing."

\-----

Saturday had come and the Lost Boys were sitting inside the bowling alley, waiting for Lucy and Max to show up. The boys had cleared everyone out of the place in preparation for the fight that would end up being a bloody disaster by the end of the night, for Max that is. David was confident that they would succeed in killing Max and taking over Santa Carla. It was time for Max to come down from his throne and let the younger generation take over. The Lost Boys didn't need a mother, sister, and younger siblings to keep them behaved. They were vampires and not some suburban family. They were predators intent on surviving and having a little fun along the way. Now was not the time to gather around the Christmas tree.

Marko went up to the bowling lane and took a breath to focus himself. Paul and Michael were calling out names and making noises to screw up Marko's shot. Marko was coming up close to David's spot in second while Dwayne remained in first, the solemn vampire kept getting strikes and making sly remarks on everyone's bowling techniques. David exhaled the smoke from his lungs as Marko managed to get a strike, much to the obvious displeasure of Paul and Michael.

"Ha! Pretty sure I'll beat Dwayne with my luck tonight." Marko cheered as he dodged the Twinkie Paul threw at him. Michael rolled his eyes before standing to take his place at the lane. Michael picked up his ball, the heaviest one he could find, and rolled it down the lane. The ball maintained a steady course before rolling into the gutter at the last second.

"Goddamn it!" Michael yelled as Paul and Marko cackled from their seats.

"For someone who manages to bowl that badly, your other talents involving your hands must suck." Dwayne said from next to David. A snort was startled out of David as Paul and Marko fell into a laughing heap on the wood floor. Michael launched himself into a flying heap at Dwayne and the pair began wrestling on the floor. Dwayne laughed at the fledgling as Michael hissed and cursed at him.

"Michael?"

Lucy Emerson stood in the door of the bowling alley with Max, her son Sam, and two other kids behind her. Michael rolled off of Dwayne and went to stand by David's side. The presence of Max, an enemy of David's made him feel territorial and irritated that the elder vampire would even come near. Max glared at the Lost Boys behind Lucy's back and narrowed his eyes at Michael, attempting to figure out if the boy had any ties to him.

"Hey, Mom. I invited the boys tonight for some fun, wanted to do something different."

Lucy nodded glancing over each of the Lost Boys in turn before lingering a bit longer on David. David noticed the look she was giving him and ignored it in favor of being civil, for the moment. The boys that Sam had brought with him were alternately glaring hatefully at Max and the boys, including Michael. They carried a duffle bag full of something unknown that David immediately zeroed in on, it seemed like someone fancied themselves a vampire hunter. Sam looked overwhelmed with the amount of tension in the bowling alley as everyone had some sort of trouble with the other.

"So, where did everyone go?" Sam asked to dispell the atmosphere. It seemed that Lucy had finally noticed that there was a lack of people bowling and that only the Lost Boys were present, no employees attending to the place.

"We sent everyone out so we all could have the place to ourselves. Employees, other people, the works." Paul snickered as he remembered the frightened looks on the faces of the customers when they entered. Everyone knew about the Lost Boys and had an idea of what they were capable of. It only took David a few words for them all to scramble over themselves to get out the doors. A particularly rotund man had some trouble getting through the door before getting kicked out, literally, by Paul.

"Why don't we get down to it, then? Lucy, after you." Max guided Lucy and her guests to the lane next to the Lost Boys. Lucy sat rigidly in her seat as Sam and the Frog brothers went off to find the perfect bowling balls. Max made his way to David as motioned from the two to have a talk a little ways from both groups. Michael watched them leave the group warily, he wanted Max gone just like the rest of them and was ready for a fight.

"What do you want to talk about?" David drawled as he leaned against the shoe counter they were standing in front of.

"Why the hell are you boys here? You are ruining my plans for Lucy and her sons. It seems like you boys are actively trying to make a mess of everything I do." Max looked like it took everything within him not to exude his vampiric nature. He was upset and wanted for his plans to fall through so that his boys would fall in line and get rid of their wayward attitudes. "And what is the issue with Michael? I can't get a hold on him."

"We're here because we thought it would be a fun activity. It's not like it's our fault that you're the worst kind of disciplinarian." David started to pick at his nails in boredom as Max's anger grew tenfold.

"I gave you dominion over the boys because I could trust you to keep them in line for me, not stomp all over everything I stand for. I see now that it's time to give you all an attitude adjustment. It all stops here and now. You _will _listen to me and do exactly as I tell you. You and the boys will take hold over the boys as I turn Lucy and then Sam. I want it all to be perfect, for us to be a family. Understand, David?"__

____

____

David rolled his eyes at Max's stupid ideals. The only reason he gave David dominion over Paul, Marko, and Dwayne was because he couldn't handle them himself. Max wanted control and a picture perfect family. He couldn't have it all, not anymore.

"Whatever, old man."

"Things are going to change around here once I have Lucy as my mate, David." Max huffed. "You boys will respect me once again."

Max made his way back over to Lucy and apologized for the interruption. David made his way back over to his boys and ignored the questioning looks thrown his way.

\-----

"We need to kill all of the bloodsuckers if we want to make it out tonight." Edgar grunted as they meandered near the racks holding available bowling balls.

"It's real convenient that they all showed up in the same place. It'll give us the opportunity to kill them all at once." Alan intoned next to his brother.

Sam looked back to his mother talking with Max and smiling slightly at something he said. It had been a long time since someone had made her smile like that. Sam hadn't seen his mom smile like that since he was very young. It was one of the earliest memories he had, a regular summer evening as his mom and dad danced to some old song on the radio while Michael led him to bed. His mom had been smiling slightly, but was happy to be in their Dad's arms. Sam didn't know it then, but that was the last smile his Mom had ever given their Dad.

Sam then looked over to where Michael was sitting with the group of vampires and noticed something strange. His brother looked relaxed. Michael was sitting close to that pale blonde guy and laughing as they watched the Twisted Sister look-alike bowl curse as he rolled a gutter ball. Sam didn't think that Michael would be happy with those guys, but lo and behold there was his brother looking like he belonged with them. And the leader, he had his arm around Michael's shoulders, his mouth brushing against Michael's ear as he leaned in to whisper something. His brother looked down, smiling brightly before giving the other boy a look he'd recognize blindfolded. It was the same look Michael would give one of his girlfriends as they'd whisper and giggle together. Michael looked at that guy with adoration, real and undisguised adoration. _Ewwww! ___

____

____

"Let's go scope them out." Edgar swaggered his way over to where Lucy and Max sat, waiting for the boys to return so they could start their game. Alan followed after his brother with the same poster and hop in his step as Sam shuffled behind them. He was starting to believe that Grandpa had been right and left it all alone when he should have.

\-----

As Lucy's date progressed, she noticed that Michael was having fun with those boys he was with. He seemed close with them and it didn't look like they were forcing him to do anything he usually wouldn't. Although his lack of filter was a bit alarming, he was happy. There was an easy smile on his face as he laughed and bickered with them, like they were all long-time friends or siblings. It painfully reminded her of whenever she would take Sam and Michael somewhere fun, the boys arguing before making up and having the time of their lives. It was so much like before the divorce, when her husband was out for days and they could all relax a bit.

The boy with the heavily embroidered jacket was perching in a seat next to Michael, laughing as the brunette boy who asked to borrow her book made a joke at the expense of one of the others. Michael gave a boisterous laugh as he leaned into the pale blonde he was sitting so close to. The pale blonde chuckled softly as the remaining boy with the rocker hair declared that he hated them all. They didn't look all that bad as they seemed, but Lucy now knew that that wasn't true. Michael was one of them now and had given up his old family for a new one. Had those boys done the same to become who they were today?

"Lucy? It's your turn to bowl." Max's hand landed on her, the cold skin making her startle from her thoughts. Max gave her a comforting pat and settled in to watch her encouragingly. Lucy nodded her thanks before walking forwards to bowl. Coincidentally it was Michael's turn as well as his group started chanting his name.

"Shut up, you fucks!" Michael yelled as he came to the line. Lucy couldn't handle it anymore, the language and the attitude, it had to stop now.

"Michael! Language!" Lucy screamed. All eyes turned to her in shock, even Michael's. He hadn't heard her yell before, never in his life. Their father was the only one as she always sent the boys away when they would have screaming matches. The boys in Michael's group oohed and snickered as a contrite look passed over Michael's face.

"Seems like Mommy doesn't like your potty mouth, Mikey." The boy with the loud jacket called.

"I don't like any of you speaking like that at all. It's disrespectful and frankly disgusting to use vulgar language like that. I'm sure your mothers would be ashamed to hear you like that."

Max stood from his seat and clapped, startling Lucy and the younger boys from her speech. A look of pride overcame him as he laid an adoring hand on Lucy's shoulder.

"I couldn't agree less, Lucy. Now that I know what kind of mother you are, I'm sure you'd do a fine job of putting my boys in line." Max's hand started to tighten on Lucy's shoulder to keep her in place. "David, if you wouldn't mind restraining Sam and his friends for me?"

David smirked as the Frog brothers immediately grabbed their duffle bag and pulled out wooden stakes to protect themselves with. Sam held a stake to his front as he approached Max slowly.

"Let her go, or else." Sam growled. It seemed that he could be brave, despite not having a lick of sense. Sometimes humans still surprised David, although it never happened that often.

"David, I want you to restrain them like I said. We agreed upon this."

Max rolled his eyes as his boys flanked behind him, ready to fight ruthlessly. The Lost Boys were loyal to him and only him, not Max.

"I didn't agree to shit, old man." David shrugged. "We think it's time that you stepped down and let me take over Santa Carla since you aren't in the right mind anymore. Your little plan to have the perfect vampire family is over."

Max snarled as his face shifted to fit his vampiric nature. His fangs protruded from his mouth and his face grotesque as ever. His golden eyes were glaring hatefully at what had been his children, his lovely brood that he himself picked from the world. David had turned them against him, his oldest was the shepherd leading his sheep to danger by going against his will.

"I am your master, you _will _obey me!" Max ordered. David chuckled as the boys all shifted behind him. Dwayne, Paul, Marko, and Michael were all his children, not David's.__

____

____

"No, Max. I am master, they obey _me. _" David snarled before all five boys flew at him.__

____

____

Max tossed Lucy aside to defend himself from the full-frontal attack of the Lost Boys. Max may have been the Head Vampire, but he could hardly fend off the attacks from five others. Five pairs of claws tore at his skin and clothes, trying to rip into his body and eviscerate him. Marko, the impish bastard bit into an arm and started to wrench it off before Max grabbed him by the braids and tossed him away. The smallest vampire flew into the pins of a lane from the force of the throw. Paul attempted to scratch his eyes out and had his hand bitten roughly before yanking it back and getting back-handed, Max's claws cutting into his face. Dwayne twisted one of Max's legs and managed to rip it off of the elder vampire before getting a swift kick in the face. Max roared as he fought back harder against the boys. Michael sunk his fangs into Max's side and chewed a chunk out of him before repeating the action elsewhere on the body. David laid blow after blow on Max to render him dizzy enough for the others to continue making him powerless. Marko and Paul jumped back into the fight and started clawing and pulling at limbs with renewed strength.

Lucy watched with horror as Michael and the other boys had turned into monsters in front of her and started attacking Max. So this is why Michael was acting the way he was? He was no longer human anymore. She couldn't look away from the carnage in front of her as the boys ripped and clawed into Max like a pack of wolves. The boy in the loud jacket was tossed aside with an incredible amount of strength into the pins of a waiting lane across from the bowling alley. The blonde with the rocker hair was backhanded, his face had gashes that bled profusely from the attack. The long-haired brunette snapped the left leg off of Max, tossing the limb behind him like a used toy, and was kicked in the face by the remaining leg. The pale blonde was raining heavy blows to Max and clawing away as he dodged every other blow Max managed to return. The two boys who had been knocked out of the fight returned again with a murderous glint in their eyes. And her Michael was biting and ripping chunks of flesh from Max's writhing body as he was being restrained. Blood colored his face and hands as he was pushed back from the older man. Michael slid across the floor and landed at her feet, hitting his head hard on a metal pole holding a chair up.

"Michael!" she screamed as he became unconscious. The pale blonde boy looked up to where Michael lay, distracted for a second, and suddenly had a bloody hand sticking out of his stomach. _"Oh my god!" ___

____

____

The other boys cringed simultaneously and began curling in on themselves in pain. Screams littered the air as the Lost Boys were subjected to mental pain the kind only a Head Vampire could inflict. David struggled to pull himself off of Max's hand in his stomach and felt lethargy start to set in, he was quickly losing the fight as blood flowed heavily from the major wound in his torso. Max ripped his hand out of David's stomach and watched as he fell to the ground. David would be in excruciating pain as the blood left his body, unable to heal the gaping hole in his chest.

Michael woke from a brief blackout to see the Lost Boys all writhing in pain. David had a visible hole in his stomach and Max was completely covered in blood, leaking all over the floor. The Head Vampire had one leg missing, most of his hand chewed away, his face clawed to all hell, and his torso was riddled with missing pieces and claw marks. Michael was surprised to find him still standing, looking like a pissed-off maniac.

"Now that I've put the boys in their place, it's time to get on with the proposal." Max held out one bloody hand, the one that was inserted into David's stomach, and reached out to Lucy. "My boys need a mother figure in their life. They have already brought in Michael, all I need is you and Sam. Be the mother to my sons, Lucy."

Sam trembled from under his mother's arms as she cradled him and Michael's prone form to her chest. Even close to death, she would protect them to the best she could. When a moment passed in relative silence to Max's request, the boys had yet to stop screaming and moaning in pain, the man growled. The bloodied hand held out to Lucy snatched up Sam and held him to a broad chest as claws pushed dangerously into his throat.

"Sam!" Lucy screamed as she reached out to him. The Frog brothers jumped into action and ran to Max with the stakes they were prepared with but were tossed aside with a backwards hand and sailed through the air. The two young boys crashed against the tables of the dining area, they were knocked unconscious from the impact. Lucy stood from her crouch on the floor and pounded her fists against Max's wounded chest. "Stop it! Stop doing this!"

"Then become my mate, Lucy. I want the perfect family and I _will _have it. I love you and I want you by my side."__

____

____

While Max had been focused on dealing with the Frog brothers and Lucy, Michael took that opportunity to sneak a stake out of the duffle bag and slide it to David's bleeding body. David may have been weak, but he could still have the one chance to end it all. David grabbed the stake slide to within arms reach of him and struggled to stand. He stumbled as he clutched his hand at the would making him so weak as he made his way silently behind Max.

Lucy was conflicted with her choices. She could say no and risk Max killing them all in a fit of rage, or she could say yes and be this crazy vampire's mate and mother to his children. She couldn't stand to see her children become monsters all because she attracted the wrong kind of men. But she couldn't lose Sam too. She already lost one son to these creatures, she wasn't going to lose another.

Just as she was about to tell Max where to shove his perfect family, a bloody stake was protruding out of his chest where his heart was sure to be. Max loosened his hold on Sam from the shock of the assault and Lucy darted forward to pull him away from his clutches. A pair of arms wrapped around her and Sam and they were pulled back and behind the array of bolted chairs as the body of Max exploded around them. The force of the explosion caved in the roof of the surrounding area and the group of vampires and humans hustled out of the collapsing bowling alley. Once outside, all nine of the survivors watched as most of the bowling alley lay in ruin. A moment of silence was passed before a snort was sounded.

"I think we win best Dad of the year award." Sam said as the arms around them released their tight hold. Laughing arose from the group at the youngest Emerson's poorly made joke, the situation had apparently called for humor to ease the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Lucy turned around to thank her son for saving them and was met with the pale blonde boy. Her shock must have shown because he immediately smirked.

"T-thank you, umm." She drew a blank when she realized that she did not know this boy's name. "I never caught your name."

"David." He thrust a gloved hand to her and she shook it. The other vampire boys lined up to shake their hands and introduce themselves to the Emersons. Michael hung back, quiet and watching everyone carefully.

"Dwayne." The boy who borrowed her book. 

"Paul." The boy with the rocker hair.

"Marko." The small boy with the loud jacket.

"I'm sure that you wanted Michael to explain everything to you, Lucy?" David asked. The smile on his face was supposed to be comforting, but it had the opposite effect for her. Lucy nodded nonetheless and followed the boys to where their motorcycles were parked. She noticed that the one Michael mounted on wasn't his old red dirt bike, it was new and shiny and a proper motorcycle.

"What happened to your dirt bike, Michael?" She had helped Michael pay for the thing after relenting to let him get the deathtrap. It had been Michael's first act of rebellion against his father.

"I got a new bike, Mom, had to keep up with the boys somehow," Michael smirked at David as Sam and the Frog brothers hopped onto the back of the rest of the bikes. Lucy stepped forward and steeled herself for getting on the bike with her son. She always hated that Michael rode these things and loved it like it were a living person. "Let's go."

\------

"I'm just gonna rip off the band-air here," Michael muttered as his mother sipped at her hot chocolate. Everyone was in the living room of Grandpa's house. The couch was packed by Paul, Dwayne, Marko, and surprisingly Sam. The comfiest recliner was occupied by Lucy, the Frog brothers sat cross-legged on the floor palming their stakes protectively, Grandpa had dragged in a chair from the kitchen, while Michael and David shared the loveseat near the mantle. It seemed like the aftermath of a crazy party had taken place and not a bloody battle. Speaking of bloody, all of the Lost Boys had taken off to find a meal and heal for an hour before the little pow wow had taken place. If anything, the vampires in the room looked worse than everyone else considering that they had done most of the fighting at the bowling alley. "I'm a vampire, we all are."

"How did this happen to you, Michael? How did this all happen to you boys?" Lucy asked. Her hands started to shake as she recalled the way their faces had changed in the span of a short moment, how Michael had changed. She could still see the way he had clawed and torn his fangs through Max's body like an animal carcass. God, it was horrifying. "I'm sure that you all have families. Parents or a relative?"

The boys all had various degrees of amusement on their faces as they shook their heads.

"I came from a family of Native Americans in the New Mexico territory," Dwayne said smiling slightly. "I was turned in 1778."

Lucy blanched before looking to David for confirmation. The leader of their group nodded slowly as he recalled how they had originally met.

"Max and I ran into Dwayne when his tribe decided to ambush us for invading their territory thinking that we were Spanish raiders. Dwayne was the best of their warriors and was the last to go down. Instead of killing him, Max decided that Dwayne would be a younger brother to me. Glad he gave him the choice though."

"And you, Paul?"

"Immigrated right from Germany with my little sister after my parents died. It was 1893 in New York." Paul's voice was playful as he took a trip down memory lane. "I was arrested for being involved in organized crime. David and Dwayne took me in before they could put me on trial."

"Marko, what about you?"

The smallest vampire stopped biting on the thumb of his glove once he became the center of attention. Marko preened slightly at all the eyes on him.

"I was a runaway living off whatever I could make working on the railroad tracks. It was the depression and times were hard. David brought me to Max in 1935, saved me from starving another day."

"It seems like David is the one saving you all from the world. David? What about you?"

David looked like he wanted to be killed a million times before talking about his past.

"The Atlantic Ocean, six months before we landed in Virginia to settle in 1607. The other sailors with us thought we had brought a demon with us on our voyage, it had just been Max hitching a ride to America for free. I found him feeding on the cabin boy we sent earlier to investigate, he fed on me then turned me. He said that there was something about me that he wanted. We were the first vampires to set foot in America."

Lucy felt appalled by the stories of these boys. They had all been taken so early and in such a dark place to boot. The only one left was Michael, her son.

"Michael? Tell me what happened with you."

Michael shifted until his knee touched David's then began to tell his story.

**Author's Note:**

> After two weeks of staying up late and surviving off of coffee and desperation, I finally finished this. I'm honestly proud of myself for making this. This story is the longest piece of work I have ever written, so far. Thanks
> 
> -S


End file.
